


Ulterior Motive

by AvengersCompound (emilyevanston)



Category: Captain America (Movies), Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Winter Soldier (Comics)
Genre: Archery, Clint Barton Bingo 2019, Flirting, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Pining, Self-Doubt, Star Spangled Bingo, Training, WinterHawk Bingo, clumsy bucky barnes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:55:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22571344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emilyevanston/pseuds/AvengersCompound
Summary: Bucky hates how much better at archery Clint is to him, but that’s not why he asks the archer for lessons.Square filled:@clintbartonbingo - N5, One Arrow Left, @winterhawkbingo -  Hawkeye!Bucky, @star-spangled-bingo - "I’m turning into you.  It’s like a horrible dream.“
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton
Comments: 12
Kudos: 97
Collections: Clint Barton Bingo, Star Spangled Bingo 2020, Winterhawk Bingo





	Ulterior Motive

Clint stepped up behind Bucky. The warm press of the archer’s body against Bucky’s back made him shiver slightly. The intimacy both too much for where they were, and not as much as he wanted. Clint’s hand slid up Bucky’s arm, guiding it up. They were rough and calloused and they scratched a little as they ran over Bucky’s skin, making his skin prickle in that way that traveled through a man like a current that earthed at the base of his skull.

Bucky’s breath hitched as Clint’s leg pushed between his and nudged his feet further apart. He let it out, trying to steady himself, so he wouldn’t give away how close he was from dropping his whole facade and shoving Clint up against the closest wall and kissing him.

Bucky knew how to use a bow and arrow, of course. He was proficient in most weaponry, including things that typically weren’t used as weapons, like cinder blocks and car doors. HYDRA had been careful to make sure he’d never be in a situation that he couldn’t take out a target, regardless of the weapons he had available to him, and when you had 70 years to beat a skill into a person, they tend to excel at it.

It wasn’t his best weapon. He wouldn’t choose one over his M249. Or pretty much any gun outside of a musket. Even still, Bucky could outshoot most people with a bow. Everyone that he could think of in any case. That is, besides Clint.

He could pretend it was just because it annoyed him so much to not be as good as Clint. It was an easy thing to say because it was annoying. Clint barely took anything seriously and yet here he was - able to outshoot Bucky without even trying. Bucky would still be lining up the site on his sniper rifle and Clint would have hit the target dead center and have moved on to the next. He could pretend that was the reason but really the truth of the matter was, Clint was willing to teach him, and Clint’s lessons all involved a lot of touching. It was close and intimate and it made Bucky’s skin prickle in a way that he hadn’t experienced… ever.

Maybe it was a little high school to make up reasons to touch your crush. He’d lost a lot of time though, and maybe he needed to go backwards before he went forward again. Besides, what were the chances Clint was even interested in him in the first place?

Clint tapped Bucky’s elbow.

“See where you’re going?” Clint said, his breath ticking Bucky’s neck, adding to that prickling feeling that danced over his skin.

“I’m a sniper, Clint.” Bucky huffed.

“Right. Right. Sorry.” Clint said. “Slow your breathing.”

“Clint!” Bucky snapped. “What did I just say?”

“Hey, you asked for my help. Do you want it or not?” Clint argued.

Bucky let out a breath. It was weird how annoying he found Clint and yet how much he craved that. Like the more annoying he was, the more Bucky wanted to be near him. “Fine. Go.”

“Release your hand on the exhale,” Clint said, stepping back. As Bucky loosed his arrow, Clint took his own bow from his back. Bucky’s arrow hit the target with a dull thunk, hitting the bullseye nearly dead center. Good enough for a kill shot but not that perfect bullseye. A split second later, another arrow hit pushing Bucky’s to the side as it hit dead center.

“How do you do that? You don’t even look like you take the time to aim.” Bucky asked.

Clint shrugged and went and pulled the arrows from the target. “Can’t all be Hawkeye.”

“Don’t see why not? Is two the maximum?” Bucky teased.

Clint laughed and returned to the spot they were shooting from. “Oh yeah? Looking for a new call sign? It might get a little confusing. But I guess if you can get more accurate, you can be Hawkeye too.”

“How good do I have to get?” Bucky asked. “Can you do that split arrow thing?”

“It’s a trick arrow. Doesn’t work on a regular one. But sure.” Clint said. “Split and arrow, you get Hawkeye.”

Bucky knew that Clint didn’t mean it the way it sounded, but he was determined that he’d do this. He was going to split and arrow, and get Hawkeye.

He nocked an arrow, looked where he was going and loosed. It wasn’t as good as one of Clint’s, but if this was the field it would have taken out the target. He fired again, the arrow hitting right next to the first. Again and again, he loosed arrow after arrow and again and again, each arrow hit close but not through another arrow. Twice, the arrowhead slid down the edge of one of the other’s already embedded in the board. Hitting them only seemed to knock the arrow further off-target.

He reached for an arrow in his quiver only to find it empty. He looked around to see Clint spinning the last arrow in his fingers. “One arrow left,” Clint said, running his thumb over the arrowhead.

Bucky’s eyes flicked from the arrowhead to Clint’s eyes. “Are you going to give it to me?”

Clint smirked and bit his bottom lip. “I might.” There was a little gravel to his voice. Something Bucky hadn’t ever picked up on before and he wondered if he meant it the way it sounded. “You know why I’m so good, Buck?”

“No. Like seriously no.” Bucky answered. “No idea. Tell me.”

“Because I have to be. I have had to be the best at this since I was 8. If I wasn’t the best then, I didn’t have a home. If I’m not the best now, I don’t have an identity. This is who I am. If someone gets better than me, there’s no place for me and I’m nothing.”

Bucky frowned. “That’s not true, Clint. You’re more than that.”

Clint shook his head, just a little. “Yeah. It is.” He raised his bow and nocked the arrow. “I’m a screwup, Buck. But not at this.”

He loosed the arrow and Bucky watched it as if in slow motion as it flew through the air, the shaft wobbling just a little, before hitting one of Bucky’s arrows right in the middle of the feathers and splitting the shaft right down the middle before embedding in the target. Bucky stared at it wide-eyed and mouth hanging open.

“What the hell?” Bucky cursed. “You said that you needed a trick arrow.”

“No, you would need a trick arrow. I don’t.” Clint said. “Guess you don’t get Hawkeye today.”

Bucky took a step closer to the man he was now seeing was driven by that same broken and unsure feeling that Bucky felt. Bucky was good at a lot of things. Archery was among them. So was math. He calculated the risk of what he was about to do, and it was so high. He was about to make himself look like a complete idiot, but maybe it might at least make Clint laugh.

“But I really want him,” Bucky said, hooking his finger into the archer’s belt.

Clint’s eyes flicked down to Bucky’s hand and slowly traveled up his body until blue eyes met blue. His lips parted and for a moment Bucky thought Clint was going to say something, but instead, he leaned forward, crashing their lips together. Bucky startled at the suddenness of it and for a second he didn’t even react. He just stood frozen while Clint’s tongue teased his lips apart.

Bucky melted into it, returning the kiss slowly and deeply. Bucky dropped his bow to the ground, and it clattered on the concrete floor. He wrapped both his arms around Clint, pulling the blond flush against his body. This was everything Bucky had wanted for so long, and part of him wasn’t sure he deserved it. Roaring above it was how good it felt and how happy he was right now.

“Buck?” Steve’s voice traveled through the target range, echoing off the walls. Bucky pulled back quickly. Too quickly. He tripped over the bow behind him and fell on his ass. “You alright?” Steve asked as he appeared around the corner.

“Yeah,” Bucky said looking up at his best friend from the ground. “Yeah, what’s up?”

“We had to go check on that warehouse uptown,” Steve said. “For RAID. Remember?”

“Oh shit. Right. Give me a minute to suit up. I’ll meet you downstairs.” Bucky said.

Steve raised an eyebrow and gave a short nod, before heading back out again. Clint started laughing as he offered Bucky his hand and helped him to his feet. “I’m turning into you. It’s like a horrible dream.” Buck muttered.

“Tripping over your own equipment? You’re right, that does sound like a Hawkeye thing to do.” He said. “Hey, when you get back, wanna come share a pizza with me. In my room?”

A smile crossed Bucky’s face and he kissed Clint’s cheek. “It’s a date.” He said and dashed off to the armory without giving Clint a chance to back out of it. Maybe he wouldn’t worry about being better than Hawkeye anymore. It’s not what he really wanted anyway. That had always just been Clint.


End file.
